Mistletoe
by MsCashew
Summary: Harry is spending 7th year at Hogwarts for Christmas without Hermione and Ron. It doesn't bother him too much, until he notices Draco Malfoy is there aswell. Could this be bad? Could our hero be in danger? Only one way to find out. . .FINISHED
1. Snow and a Book

Hey there readers of mine. Yes, another fanfic by me, isn't it wonderful? Well, I suppose it's not for all that have waited for updates on Be Mine or Hedwig's Wish. Heh heh . . . BUT this one was written over a YEAR ago, Christmas 2003 (so it's a bit crappy lol),and I thought I'd be posting a couple chapters every couple of days so you'd have something to read while I'm writing the rest of chapter three for HW, and while all my BM (that's not right. LOL) readersare patiently waiting for an update on that. SO here we are. :clappy claps:

**WARNINGS: **This fic is SLASH. Got it? If you don't like it, then please don't read, it's as simple as that! Isn't it wonderful? For all who do not heed my warning, then, you just don't listen, do you? This fic also holds swearing once in a while, a bit out of characterness (it's Harry/Draco, it just has to happen a bit (-; ), and, I'm weird, but you that's probably already obvious.

**Disclaimer: **Oh, and I don't own Harry Potter, or the characters, or anything. I'm a college student, I don't have money to own anything. I just own the story. That's it, really it is.

One more thing: I've changed my name! That's right, folks. I changed it to MsCashew. Why? Because I like cashews. Yummy.

Well, enjoy the fic, leave a review, it may inspire me to get Hedwig's Wish up and running, and Be Mine, but they're coming along, they really are. So hold onto your horses.

* * *

Well, I've said my goodbyes to Ron and Hermoine. And here I am, alone in the common room, Hedwig on my shoulder, nipping my ear in affection from me giving her an owl treat.

It's so quiet in here. Nothing makes a noise except for the crackles in the fire and the whoosh of air that hits the window pane. It's quite calming. Just sitting here, in the fires glow with my thoughts. . .I don't like my thoughts. Maybe I should have gone with Ron and Hermoine to the Burrow. But I didn't want to intrude. There families are spending their Christmas together since Ron and Hermoine are now a couple.  
Heh, it was funny how they hooked up. One minute they were arguing about S.P.E.W, the next they were in an embrace kissing softly.  
I'm happy that they finally hooked up. I knew it would happen one day. The way they always argue, you'd think they were married.

:Sigh: But, what will I do? I don't have anyone. I don't know if I will. Yes, I can see my future now: Sitting on a park bench, an old and feeble wizard talking to birds as if they were my friends. I laugh at the thought. Yes, and I'll have 50 cats at my home, believing they can talk.

Hmm, you never know, do you? All I can hope for is that I'll find someone. One that will share my interests, one that will understand me, one to hold me when I don't like the world. . .one that will love me for who I am. Yes, that's all I can hope for.

* * *

Harry sighed in his chair, stretching as he awoke. _"Hmm, what time is it?"_ thought Harry groggily. He looked towards the window. There was no light, only a sky full of stars.  
It also seemed that Hedwig had gone, leaving Harry to his nap.  
He now looked over to the grandfather clock that was in the corner of the room. It was almost 6 o'clock. It was almost time for dinner. Then with a great growl from his stomach, he realized he was hungry.

With a groan, he stood up, making his way to the portrait. He was still a bit groggy as he opened the portrait, and almost tripped as he walked through.  
"I should have woken up a little more." Harry said, aloud this time.  
He made his way down the steps, and heard. . .singing? He looked around, and realized that they had bewitched the old suits of armor again to sing Christmas carols. They were now singing Jingle Bells, so Harry started to sing along, a small smile spreading on his face.

After almost stepping in the trick stair, he finally made it to the Great Hall, going over to the Gryffindor table, he sat down, waiting for dinner to start.

There were still a few people here. A couple of third year Gryffindors, a 7th year Ravenclaw, no Huffle Puffs, and at the Slytherin table. . .Oh no, it can't be. . .Yes, it was. Draco Malfoy.  
Why was he here? He always went home for Christmas. With a sigh, Harry put his chin in his hand, looked away from Malfoy, and put on a face of annoyance. His Christmas was ruined. His last one at Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry.

He looked over at Malfoy again. He didn't seem to be paying attention to anything around him. He was infact looking down in his lap. But what was he doing?  
Harry looked under the table, to see what Malfoy was so interested in. It was a book. Looked a bit banged up, from what Harry could tell. What book was it though? Harry couldn't tell, so he sat up from under the table, and put his chin in his hand once again.

Soon, Dumbledore stood at the teachers table, and started to speak.  
"It is wonderful that we have you all here for the holiday season. I hope you have a grand Christmas." he stopped for a second, smiling wider as he started to speak once again, "And now, I have a special treat for all of you. As you know, I have directed many choirs that consisted of students. Today, I have summoned the Hogwarts choir that won the Wizarding Choir Competition 15 years ago. Without further ado, I give you, the Hogwarts choir." The teachers clapped, and the few students did too, except for Malfoy that is. He was still reading his book.

With a swish of Dumbledore's wand, he made a stage appear on the right far wall. Soon after that, a choir that consisted of about 30 past students apparated on the stage.

Dumbledore went over, and started to direct the choir, and soon, they started to sing Carol of the Bells.  
Right after they started, the food appeared on the table, and everyone started to dig in.

Harry looked over at Malfoy once again, he was picking at his food this time, but now the book was on the table, and he still seemed to be reading. But now, he was moving his lips. Was he reading aloud? No, it wasn't that. Harry heard the choir in the background, and it seemed as if Malfoy was singing along to the song.

* * *

It was a great idea to go for a walk after dinner. As I breath in, the winter air is sharp, and fills me with its coldness. It feels wonderful.  
And the scenery is breathtaking. The orange, pinkish sky, the light flurries that are covering Hogwarts, the lights from the castle making the snow glistening like the ground is covered in diamonds. It seems like a whole different world. Not of wizards and witches, not of muggles, but a world that has nothing in it.  
The trail I walk on leads me to one of the many benches that Hogwarts has on its grounds. I sweep a spot off with my gloved hand, and sit down on the cold bench.

Hmm. . .nothingness. That's what I would call a world full of ice and snow. Just casting a look at the never ending snow, that's what I see. Nothingness.  
I wish I could be in a world of nothingness. There wouldn't be any fighting, there wouldn't be any wars. . .there wouldn't be any deaths.

Dammit! Why did I have to think about death now? Why do I have to think about it at all? Sirius. . . I think about him all the time. Even when I don't realize it, I think about him.  
If he was still alive, maybe I wouldn't be stuck here for Christmas. I'd be happily celebrating with my godfather.  
Yes, we'd be sitting around a great big tree, decorated grandly, sipping hot chocolate as we opened our presents.

I feel a stinging in my eye. No, I can't cry now. Sirius wouldn't want me to cry. Soon a little mantra sticks in my head, I will not cry, I will not cry. . .  
I feel the familiar warm droplet run down my face. I wipe it away angrily. I'm 17, I shouldn't cry!  
And then another one trails down my face. No! I can't cry now! I wipe the second droplet away angrily as I did with the first. I now cross my arms over my chest and close my eyes tightly, hoping that not another tear will fall. It seems to be working. Only a little brimming, but no falling.

As I do this, I don't hear the crunching of snow under boot, I don't hear the sweeping of snow on the other side of the bench, and I don't feel someone sitting where the sweeping took place.

"What are you doing, Potter? Taking a nap?" My head snaps up at those words. I look to my left, and I see a smirking Malfoy. Great, just great.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" I say as I turn so my back's to him.

"I was out for a walk, noticed you, and decided to come and bother you." I can hear the smirk in his voice, "So, how can I bother you this evening?"

"Why don't you just leave me alone? I'm sure you've had enough bothering me, haven't you?"

"Oh, not at all." He says matter of factly. I put my chin in my hand, my elbow supporting me up on the back of the bench. Soon, I hear him go on.

"Why aren't you with the mudblood and the weasel? Couldn't they fit another person into that thing they call a home?"

I get angry at his statement, and just start talking without thinking.  
"And why aren't you at home? Is Christmas too good for you now? Are you going to start pillaging orphanages, and burn down Christmas trees?"

I hear silence, and then, "Geez, Potter. What do you take me for? I'm not a scrooge you know."

I look over at him from that last comment. He has his arms crossed, and a scowl has shown upon his face.  
"How would you know what a scrooge is? That's a muggle thing." Did I see what I think I saw? Was that a look of surprise on his face? I'm not sure. It could've just been the light. Because now, he has his scowl on his face again.

"I-I. . .Oh, just forget it." And he's now silent. I still stare at him, and he takes a quick glance at me, and raises an eyebrow, "Why is your face wet, Potter? Were you crying?" He raises a hand, I don't know what he's planning to do.  
He takes off his right glove, and wipes one of the old tears off my face with his thumb. His hand is surprisingly warm. It felt good against my cold cheek.

No, what am I doing? I pull away from him, and jump up. Hurrying off to the castle, I make up an excuse of how I have late homework to finish.

I hadn't realized how cold it was getting. The wind was shooting my way in all directions, making my scarf billow all over the place. Through all this cold, the feel of Malfoy's warm hand stayed with me. All the way up to the castle.

* * *

Well, there you are. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Leave a review if you want, it'd be lovely to see one, or two around the place when I post chapter two tomorrow. Have a wonderful day, and God speed!

MsCashew


	2. Butterbeer and Confusion

Oh mah goodness, oh mah goodness, oh mah goodness! I'm so sorry, my lovely, lovely readers! I thought for sure I had posted the second chapter before I hada crisis after the other, having me fail to post some of this story. It's been a hell of a few months, I'm sorry for not getting this up. Still working on HW, and BM, so stay tuned for those.

Oh, and this fic was only meant to entertain you guys and gals for a while while I work out the others. I know there are a few mistakes in there (like aparating and whatnot) but it was two years ago that this was written, it was when I would write any old thing that would pop into my head. XD Maybe it's best that I waited to post this one, it's more fitting now that it's almost Christmas time.

Hope you enjoy the second chapter of Mistletoe

>>>>>. 

_"How will Hogsmeade be this afternoon with all the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping?"_ I think to myself as I head for the village. It's not as cold as it was last night. But that bite of winter is still in the wind, hitting my bare face with full force. It doesn't bother me though, infact, it's quite the refresher.

Another question is what to get Ron and Hermoine for Christmas. I didn't have the time to shop for them before they left, so I'll be sending Hedwig for a late Christmas delivery.

I'm about half way there when I hear that familiar crunch of snow under boot from last night, and now, some panting as if this person was trying to catch up.  
I stop, and look behind me, and a grin appears on my face as I see Malfoy running.

He reaches me after a few seconds, and bends over to catch his breath.  
"Yes, Malfoy?" I say, not being able to resist a tiny smirk.

Without bending back up, he holds up his right hand, a green pouch dangling from it.

"You. . .You dropped. . . this." He says, still trying to catch his breath, gulping after he got it out.  
I raise an eyebrow, and soon realize that this was my money pouch! How could I have dropped it?

"Oh my, thank you! I would've looked pretty stupid if I went and bought presents and couldn't pay for them." I say as I take the green pouch from his hand.  
I put the pouch in my pocket, and smile at a now standing Malfoy.  
But the smile soon disappears as I realize that he ran all this way just to give me back my pouch. There has to be something more to this.

"What's the deal, Malfoy? You don't just run about half a mile to return a pouch."

He smirks as he runs a hand over his hair to push down the loose strands, "Well, Potter, I thought I might join you. I have business in Hogsmeade as well."

"Um, okay." I say, a bit stunned at his words. And I'm a bit confused as well. Did he mean join me as in he wants to join me? Or did he mean that he just wants to join me because he really has business in Hogsmeade? Or maybe-

"Potter! Are you still there?" I'm jutted from my thoughts as he yells to get my attention. I look at him, his hands are on his hips, annoyed that I haven't been listening to him.

"You don't need to yell! What is it?" I say as I look at him, annoyed as well.

"Apparently I do need to yell. I was _asking_ if it was alright if I joined you."

He's _asking_ to join me? What in the name ofMerlin is going on?

"I-I guess that would be fine." I say. I start walking again, but now I have someone at my side. The last person I thought would be walking to Hogsmeade with me. Draco Malfoy .

>>>>>. 

"It's not that busy, is it?" I say to Malfoy as we enter the wizarding village. He snorts at me, and says, "What did you expect, Potter? It's almost Christmas."  
"Well sorry." I mutter, and we continue our way into the village.

We soon depart our separate ways, for he has to go one way, and I have to go another to get Ron and Hermoine's gifts.

(and we skip where he buys presents, for tis boring I say! )

Grinning to myself, I'm proud that I have found the perfect gifts to give to my best friends.  
A model of the Quidditch World Cup arena with realistic players from the Irish team flying about for Ron(can you believe they only had just one?), and a huge book on everything you can imagine on magic for Hermoine.

As I'm walking, I notice the post office. Hmm, I think these packages might be a bit too big for Hedwig. I head over, and go inside, the door sounding with a little jingle as I do.  
It's quiet in here too. Like all the other shops. I go up to the counter, and set my things down on the counter.

"And how may I help you today, sir?" I jump as a man seems to appear out of no where behind the counter.  
He's tall, blonde hair, and his cheeks are somewhat sunken. But he has a kind smile spread out on his face.

"Um, yes. I would like to have these presents to be shipped out."

"Oh, no problem, sir! That's our job you know." he said with a smile and a wink, "Now, where would you like them sent?" With a flick of his hand, a quill appeared in it, with a piece of parchment in the other, "Name, and then destination. That's how we work." He said with a bit of a chuckle. To me, this guy seems a bit energetic.

"Ron Weasley, and Hermoine Granger." I wait as he scribbles down the names, "Destination is The Burrow."

"Oh yes, The Burrow! We've sent quite a few letters there over the years." he chuckles again, "Yes, a couple of our owls came back with some kind of weird disfiguration from those packages. We didn't wrap them up tight enough, you see, and a bit of the thing, yeah, you could call it a _thing_, had splashed up on the owls!" He laughs out loud now, and I think what kind of _things_ Fred and George had been sending to The Burrow.

"Well, anyhoo, now that I've been down memory lane, I can assure you that these gifts will be sent safely, and to the right destination." He says with a smile as he pats the gifts.

"Will they be there by Christmas?" I ask.

"Oh, of course! We're very good about delivering presents at Christmas time." He then takes me over to the register, and adds up my total. I pay, and am headed out the door.  
But then I spot Malfoy at the counter with a different clerk, and I hear the words, "I would like to send this to St. Mungos, please." I quickly dash out the door so as to not be seen overhearing his words.

"St. Mungos?" I say aloud. Why would Malfoy be sending something to St. Mungos?  
I stand there for what seems like the longest time, pondering what I just heard.  
And then, I hear the jingle of the door, and am face to face with Draco Malfoy once again.

"Potter, what are you doing standing there? Are you lost like a little puppy dog?" He smirks. I don't respond, biting my lip so not a thing can be blurted out. Now he raises an eyebrow at my silence, "What's the matter, Potter?"  
I shake myself out of my stupor, and say, "Do, do you want to grab a butterbeer? My treat." Why did I just ask that?

"Are you for real, Potter? You're actually asking me to go have a butterbeer with you?"

"Yeah." I say, not believing it myself.  
He smirks once again, and says, "Okay. You're on, Potter."

>>>>>. 

_"Well, it seems there's many more people in here than anywhere else."_ I think as Malfoy and I take a seat by the brightly decorated Christmas tree.  
Yes, there's definitely more people in here than anywhere else.  
A few older witches took up a table closer to the bar, a few older wizards looked as if they were scheming to go and talk to the older witches. A few more witches and wizards adorned the rest of Three Broomsticks, a couple of trolls, and. . . Even a veela was here! I quickly look away so as to not get entwined within the veela's beauty. Almost fell out of the balcony for doing that last time.

Soon, Madam Rosmerta comes, and is ready to take our order.  
"Hello, Harry, what can I get you this afternoon?" she looks over at Malfoy, and a shocked look takes over her usual tranquil face. She then raises an eyebrow, and leans down to me and whispers, "Are you aware that Draco Malfoy is sitting with you?" He obviously hears, and does a little "hmph." and crosses his arms.

"I am well aware. I invited him myself." I whisper back.

"Oh, right! I was just joking you know!" She fakes a laugh, "Yes, right. Now, what can I get you?" She asks again, a smile now on her face.

"We'll take two butterbeers, please." I say, a grin spreading on my face as Malfoy does another little, "Hmph."

"Okay. Be right back, Harry." And she's off back to the bar.

"Of all the things to do! She should know better than to question." Malfoy said, keeping his arms crossed.  
I laugh at his antics. Only a Slytherin would find it revolting for a barmaid to ask a silly little question.

"Well, it's not every day that you see a Gryffindor and a Slytherin go and have a butterbeer, is it?" I ask, still laughing a bit.

"I guess it's not. But it's not like the world's coming to an end!" He says as he dramatically thrusts a hand into the air.  
"Yeah, not yet anyway." I say as I put my chin in my hand. He smirks at what I say, and shakes his head.

Finally our drinks come. I say thank you to Madam Rosmerta, and she nods back in reply. I take a drink from my butterbeer as she walks away, and it fills me with a warmness beyond compare.  
"I really needed this. The cold was starting to get to me." I say, then wipe my mouth with the back of my sleeve. He nods in reply as well, and takes a drink.

_"Why did it get so silent?"_ I think to myself as I take another drink. I look at Malfoy, and he's staring at his drink, a look of. . . longingness in his face? No, no. That couldn't be it. What's that look then?

"Um, Malfoy." He looks toward me, a frown upon his face now, "Last night, at dinner, what book were you reading? It seemed to be quite interesting if you could hardly stop to eat dinner." I then take another sip as I wait for his answer.  
He looks down at his drink, and answers without looking, "It was nothing. Just a book I found to pass the time at dinner." Is it me, or did that line seem a bit rehearsed?

"I just thought that, you looked so engrossed in it, that it might have been a favorite of yours."  
He snorts at my statement, and starts to speak with a smirk on his face.

"And what business is it of yours, Potter if I was reading anyway?" He says as he finally looks at me.

"Because I'm trying to be nice." I say rather calmly for myself. He does another, "Hmph" and takes a great drink.  
As he does this, I ask another question, "How come you're spending the Holiday at Hogwarts?" He sets down his mug down harshly, and says, "Because I felt like it, Potter! I'm still wondering why this is any of your business!"

I say calmly again, "Because, I'm trying to be nice. That's all."

He knocks down his chair as he stands up, and starts to put on his cloak and scarf very quickly.  
"I don't want to sit here and be asked questions that I'm not about to answer!" he shouts, and heads quickly for the door.

I sit there, a bit shocked as I watch him leave. I stand up with a start, and act quickly myself. I put my cloak and scarf on, and pay for the drinks. And now am out the door like a bat out of hell to catch up with Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy was already down the street when I ran out of The Three Broomsticks. "Geez he's fast." I say aloud, and start running after him.

"Malfoy!" I yell. He doesn't look back. I yell again, "Malfoy!" He looks over his shoulder quickly, and keeps on going. I curse under my breath, and start to quicken my pace.

I finally about catch up, and start to talk to him once again, "Malfoy, could you stop for just a minute?"

"I don't see why I have to. I'm a Malfoy. We can do as we please." He says rather huffy.  
"Even so," I start, a sarcastic tone comingfrom my mouth,"I'm trying to talk to you, and you should stop and listen!" I shout at him this time.

He now stops and turns to me, a scowl on his face.  
"Well, what is _so_ important that you have to talk to me?" He says as he crosses his arms.

"Look, I was just trying to be nice. I was trying to put our differences aside and just have a conversation with you. I don't know why you get all huffy at me asking just a couple of simple questions."

"Because it's none of your damn business, Potter!" He breaths deeply after his shout, and stares at me with daggers in his eyes.  
As I stare in those cold, gray eyes, I realize that I might be hitting a cord in Malfoy. Maybe he doesn't want to talk about his Christmas plans because it has to do with his family. God knows it won't be the same at home with his father in Azkaban.

I sigh, and say, "Malfoy." He still stares at me, and says gruffly, "What?"

"I'm sorry. If you don't want to talk about those kind of things, I shouldn't be asking them." I hold out my hand in a gesture of friendship. Now I know I see a look of shock on his face. He still stares, mouth agape, but just a little.  
He realizes what he just did, and straightens up, a look of that aristocratic charm on his face. He takes my hand, and now says, "It's, it's quite alright, Potter. Just quit being so nosy." I laugh at how he acts now, and he drops my hand for it, "What are you laughing about?" He asks.

"I hardly think I was nosy." He does a little "hmph" like before, "But I shouldn't have pursued asking."

He has his eyes narrowed, but soon they soften, and now, I'm quite shocked myself. He has an actual smile on his face!  
"Think nothing of it, Potter." He pats me on the shoulder, and starts to walk once again.

I stare after him a few seconds, and think, _"He's not so bad looking when he smiles."_  
I start to walk again too, thinking that I thought that Malfoy wasn't that bad looking. How strange is that?

* * *

And that's chapter 2! Hope you enjoyed. Sorry about my absence again. And sorry I didn't respond to your reviews this time, I just wanted to get this thing posted. Chapter three coming in a couple days. (for real this time XD) 


	3. Questions and a Hug

Here's chapter three for your entertainment. . .

>>>>>.

The next few days went on like their visit to Hogsmeade.  
They would spend time together, much of it spent in silence, but they did have their chats. It would go like so: One of them would ask a small question. For example, their favorite color, and the other would answer, and then the one who answered would ask the next question. They were actually having a fun time.  
So far, Malfoy's favorite color was green (of course), favorite ice cream, chocolate frog surprise(the surprise was, the bewitched chocolate frog was chopped up for the ice cream, and the parts still wriggled about), food was sushi, music, anything from classical to The Weird Sisters, game was exploding snap, class was of course potions, and many other things that Harry never knew about Malfoy, and probably wouldn't have ever known if Malfoy hadn't stayed for the holidays.

>>>>>.

The night before Christmas eve. Malfoy and I were lounging about on the staircase, me leaning against the marble railing, a leg bent up and a leg stretched forward, and him sitting a couple feet in front of me on a stair, laying lazily with his arms behind his head.

"Okay, I have another one." I say, going into our little game of questions.

"And that is?" He says with a smirk, looking above at the ceiling.

"Your most embarrassing moment." I say smirking myself.

"Oh no. I can't tell you that." He says with a little laugh, the smirk still in place.

"You have to. I asked it." I demand in a teasing way.

"Fine, Potter." He doesn't move out of his spot, just looks over at me, "A couple days after the Yule Ball, I told a few Slytherins that I had snogged with Pansy outside after the ball for the longest time. Of course none of it was true. As I was going into detail, a few started to snicker and point behind me. I was stupid, and didn't think anything of it. Oh God! I can't believe it happened." He stopped for a second to laugh at his own story, "So, as I was going into detail, Pansy herself turned me around, and slapped me right across the face! Yelling that I had defiled her reputation, and all that non-sense. That's what the others were snickering about. God, I was such a moron to have not noticed." I was laughing at this, thinking that Malfoy had been slapped two times in his Hogwarts career. Now I wonder how many times he _has_ been slapped since he's been here.

"Okay, my turn." He says as he sits up.

"Do your worst." I challenge him.

"Well, my worst, huh?" His smirk gets even wider.

"Yes, your worst." I say as I lean forward.

"You asked for it. In third year, there was a time that I was in Hogsmeade and I kept getting pelt with mud."

_"Oh no, not that."_ I think as he keeps going.

"I thought I saw your head float about. Was it actually you, or was it infact a figment of my imagination?" Not only does he have a smirk on his face, but now his right eyebrow is raised in a knowing manner.

"Well, I, I -" I stutter as I try to answer. How am I going to answer this?  
"Y-yes. I was in Hogmeade, and what you saw was my head." Yeah, I could only answer the truth. How he would react, I'll know in a second.

He surprises me, and starts to laugh!

"Have you gone mad, Malfoy? I didn't expect you to laugh."

"It's just f-funny!" He spurts out through his laughing, "I thought I was going mad in third year, and now I know that you infact snuck out of Hogwarts and pelted a Slytherin with mud! You could've gotten killed by Professor Snape if he found out it was you." He finishes as he wipes away a tear from his laughter.

"I'm lucky he didn't. He nearly found out how I snuck out and everything! I almost got expelled!"

He now gives me a serious look, and asks another question, "How _did_ you sneak out anyway? With the dementors and everything protecting Hogwarts every which way, I don't see how you could have done it."

"Well, I just can't tell you that, Malfoy." I simply say. He nods in understanding, looking down the stairs.

I hear a someone walking towards us, and am thinking that this could be Filch. It was past hours, and neither of us should be out here.

"Malfoy, I hear someone coming. We should get back to our dorms." He nods again, still looking down towards the front doors.

As I stand up, and start to head up the stairs, I hear Malfoy speak, "Potter?" He asks me.  
I look back, he hasn't moved a muscle.

"Yes?" I ask, wanting to get to the dorm so as to not get caught.

"I'm glad you weren't expelled. Then I wouldn't have anyone to talk to on Christmas break." He doesn't look at me as he stands up, and heads the other way to the dungeons to his own dorm room.  
And he didn't look at me as he went into the passage that lead to where he slept.

"I'm glad I wasn't expelled either." I say softly, and start to head up the stairs once again.

>>>>>.

"Tell me one thing about your childhood." I say as Malfoy and I walk on the grounds of Hogwarts of Christmas eve night.

"One thing, huh?" He asks looking straight ahead.

"Yep. One thing."

"I'm not sure." He says, smoothing his already smoothed hair.

"I'm sure you can think of one thing." He stays silent for a moment, and then just stops. I look at him, and he starts to answer.

"I guess one thing is, my mother used to read to me." He looks down to the ground, a slight blush rising to his cheeks, "I can't believe I just admitted that my mother read to me as a child. I'm a Malfoy! Malfoy's don't get read to." I smile at his ranting. Such an ego. But what can you expect from a Malfoy? Things I never thought possible.

"I think it's a good thing that you got read to." I say. But now a blush is rising to my own cheeks as I say something that I shouldn't have, "I never got read to as a child. I wish I could have been." I stand there silent as I wait for his reaction.

"You didn't get read to as a child?" He asks.

"N-no. I didn't." I stammer a reply. Why am I telling him this? I've never even told this to Ron and Hermione.

"That's too bad, Potter. No kid should not be read to." He then starts to walk once again, silent as ever.

I walk behind him, the both of us still silent. Now I notice where we are. We're close to that bench. The one where I usually go to sort out my thoughts, the one where I'm alone. . .the one where I think about Sirius. God, I hadn't thought about Sirius since me and Malfoy started to form a friendship.

"You want to sit down, Potter?" He asks, knocking me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, sure." I say quietly. We go to that same bench, and sit down like we were a few nights before.  
It's like we never left that spot. Everything looks the same. The orange pinkish sky, the snow glistening like a thousand fairies garnished the land with sparkling dust. I sigh, and look up at the sky.

"Potter, why do you look so. . .saggy?" I laugh at him. How could you not laugh at a word like "saggy"?

"Saggy? What's that supposed to mean?" I say as I still stare at the sky.

"Saggy, it's-it's what I say when someone looks like they have troubles on their mind." I look at him from the corner of my eye, he smoothes his hair again. I think he does it when he's nervous.

"Nothing." I lie, "Nothing is on my mind. It's blank." I keep on lying.

"You liar." He says, "Why don't you tell me? I think you could trust me enough that you could tell me things." He says as that blush from before returns and he smoothes down the invisible hair that won't stay put.

"Well," I start, thinking of how I could answer.

I stop to collect my thoughts. This was hard to tell Malfoy, hell, it was hard to tell anyone about this! Especially if they didn't know the person.  
"Well," I start again, "In 5th year, I lost someone very dear to me." I still stare at the sky, waiting for his response.

"I'm, I'm sorry, Potter." I look over at him. He's staring at the ground, arms at his sides.  
"Who- who did you lose?" He asks carefully as he looks over to me.

"My godfather." I answer in a whisper. He nods in response.

We now sit in silence, but it was a comfortable silence. I had never told anyone out of my circle of friends about Sirius. I couldn't. He was a wanted criminal. I just wanted to go around and shout out that Sirius Black was a great man who died a noble death!

But, I couldn't.

I shiver from thinking of Sirius again. I hadn't thought of him for days. Why didn't I think of him?

_"It's because of Malfoy."_ The thought just popped into my head. And it was true. He took my mind off of Sirius for a few days. No one has taken my mind off him for more than a day. And Malfoy did it for a _multiple_ amount of days.  
I shiver again, but not just from my thoughts, now it was from the cold as well.

"Potter, are you cold?" He asks with a bit of concern.

"No, not really." I lie.

"You're obviously cold. Here, take my scarf." He unwraps it from around his pale neck, and reaches out an arm to hand it to me.

"No thank you, Malfoy." I say, smiling a little.

"I insist, Potter." He then swings it over my head, and it's soon around my neck, his hands still holding the ends of his scarf.  
Now with a swing of his hand, the scarf makes a 'whoosh' as the green and silver pattern cloth wraps around my neck over my gold and red scarf.

"There you go. You must be warm now." He says rather smugly and with a smirk.

"Oh, plenty warm." I say as a slight blush rises to my cheeks.

"Why don't we head back to the castle? It's about dinner time." He says as he stands up.

"Yeah, okay." I say quietly.

We head back up the snowy path to Hogwarts, another comfortable silence upon us.  
We now climb the stone steps and soon are going through the extraordinary large oak doors.  
I stop right before the steps, and he does the same.

"I have to go do something before dinner. I'll see you in a little while." I say, a wider smile on my face.

"Okay. I'll see you in a while."

He starts to walk, but I stop him as he's about to go down the passage to the dungeons.  
"Malfoy! You forgot your scarf." He turns, and gives a slight chuckle. He walks back as I take the scarf from around my neck to hand back to him.  
I place it in his hands. I take a couple steps up, but he looks at me with a look of sympathy on his face. It makes me so I can't go up the stairs.

"Potter, come here." He says with a tone of order in his voice. I do as he says, and am standing in front of him once again.

He has thrown the scarf over his shoulder at this point, and just stares at me like before.  
Now, he raises his arms a bit, but has a sense of reluctance about what he is about to do.  
He starts to raise them again, and now they're further up. He shocks me at what he does. He takes me in his arms, and gently hugs me!  
I don't react. I just stand there, in a hug that was given by Malfoy.

"I'm sorry," he whispers by my ear, "I'm sorry that you lost someone dear to you." He now pulls away, and looks at me with a small smile, "I've never lost someone to death. I've only lost someone to dementors." He hugs me lightly once again, and I respond by putting my arms around him, lightly as well.  
He pulls apart once again, and heads back to the dungeons.

I stand there for a second, and ponder why that had felt so right.

* * *

There we go.I'm so sorry about this chapter, folks. It's been acting so odd, I had to upload it about 3 times. o.O But, I hope you like/love it. I'm trying my best. XD 

Hope you like, leave a review if you did, leave one if you didn't, it's all good. :) Chapter four should be along shortly, maybe even tonight.

Ms Cashew


	4. Christmas and Much Confusion

Hello all my readers, MsCashew here and here to say that I'm finally posting the final chapters of "Mistletoe". Aren't you just so excited! WOOO!

Anyhoo, in the last few chapters, it's going to switch to Draco's point of view as well, just for fun. Just so you don't get confused, I'm telling you now. Remember, I wrote this over two years ago, it's fun, have fun reading it. :)

Oh, and the chapters are pretty short here on out, because, well, that's just how they fit, in my own world anyway.

And the whole lines crossing the page, that's going into Draco's POV. Hope that helps.

And now, on with the fic . . .

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My tired eyes shut tighter as a stream of sunlight sneaks into the curtains of my four poster bed. I crack one open, and am blinded for a few seconds.  
I sit up, and stretch the sleep out of my system. Now I realize what day it is.

Christmas.

I open the curtains, and find that there are presents at the end of my bed.  
I grab my glasses off the bedside table, and quickly put them on my face.  
"Hey, Ro-" I quickly cut off my sentence as I suddenly remember that Ron is not here with me this Christmas. This is the first time that I was the only one in our room for Christmas. No Neville, no Seamus, no Dean.  
I quickly banish the thought from my head. I don't need to think about that right now.

I stand, and go to the end of the bed to open my presents.

A new book about Quidditch and it's origins from Hermione, a basket full of sweets from Ron, my usual green sweater from Mrs. Weasley, a tin of treacle fudge from Hagrid (save it for a rainy day).  
Then I see the last present by my bed. A present from Remus.  
I take it into my lap, just staring at it for the longest time. Finally opening it, I see a letter first.

_Harry, _

I hope you have been well. I know it's a hard time of the year for you, but keep up your spirits and know that I'm thinking about you.  
I hope you like this gift. I've had it for so long, and I thought that you should have it instead of it being in a dark drawer.  
I wish you well again, and please, come and visit sometime.

Remus

I look at the gift that he sent, and my eyes start to well up.  
It was a picture of a young Sirius, my father, and me as a baby in a silver picture frame that had a sketched in swirl design on the bottom.  
Sirius was holding me, looking fondly at the baby version of me. And my father was all smiles, seeing that his best friend was so fond of baby me.  
My tears spill on the photo behind the enclosed glass, making a torrent of salty water run over the faces.  
Hugging it to my chest, I start to wipe the tears away with my free hand.  
"Thank you, Remus." I whisper to myself.

I stand and go over to my bedside table to set my new picture where I can see it. As I get there, I notice a small gift that sat there.  
Setting the photo down, I sit down on the bed, and take the newly discovered present with me.  
It was quite a small box, a little bigger than a ring box. And it was wrapped in a metallic green, silverish paper.  
I start to unwrap it, and find a black box under the wrapping paper.  
Slowly opening the lid, I see a pair of green specs.  
I reach in, and pull out the gift. I gasp as I see what it is.  
It was a silver figurine of a dragon, the specs of green that I saw were it's eyes. I bring it close to my face, gazing at the detail of it's scales, of it's wrinkled snout, of how the eyes seemed to sparkle.  
I look in the box again to see if it had the senders name on it. Indeed it did, which made me gasp again.

_To: Potter  
From: Malfoy_

I stare at the two names that were there. _Potter, Malfoy_ I still couldn't believe it.

All of a sudden, I slap my hand over my mouth as something clicks, snaps, whacks me in the head, how ever you want to put it!  
I take my hand away slowly from my mouth, still a bit in shock.  
"No, no, no, no, no, no, no, No, NO!" I kept repeating.  
Why is this happening? Why, oh why?  
"Why did I let it happen? Why did I get close to Draco Malfoy? Why did he decide to get close to me?" I say angrily.

I sigh to myself. This can't be. I can't be close to Malfoy. It won't work. You can't be enemies for 6 and a half years and then suddenly become friends. It just doesn't work out that way!

I fall back on the bed, staring up at nothing, thinking of what to do.

>>>>>>>>>>

You know, it gets a bit boring in your room when you sit in there most of the day. I guess it does when you hide from Malfoy all day.  
Geez, what in bloody hell am I going to do? I have to end my friendship with Malfoy. . .but I can't forget all the things we've told each other.  
Another thing is, I get a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach when I think about all this. Even my heart speeds up, just a bit though.  
My God! What am I thinking? I, I can't think this way! Especially of. . . of Malfoy! I hadn't felt like this, well, since Cho. God, what am I doing?

I get up from my place on my bed, and head for the door, ready to go down to the feast we usually have every Christmas.  
But I stop. I don't know if I can. What have I turned into?  
I make a different decision, and grab my cloak and my scarf instead, wanting to take a nice, long walk to think about my troubles.

* * *

Geez, I didn't know the Professors could be so loony. Even Professor Snape isn't his usual self.  
This definately isn't what I expected for Christmas to be like at Hogwarts. I expected things to be a bit more organized, I expected quiet dinners, and solitude, nothing more. I didn't expect that everyone, including the Professors, to sit at one table. . . But, it's actually not that bad.  
In a way, it's like a weird family. A smile tugs at my lips as I think this thought. But now quickly vanishes as I think of my own family.  
I heave a great sigh, not wanting to think too much on family matters. 

_"Now that's odd."_ I think. I just realized that Potter isn't here. In fact, I haven't seen him all day.

What if something happened to him? No, that couldn't be. I'm sure the Professors would know what's going on with the Boy-Who-Lived. But then, why isn't he here? I sigh again.

"Mr. Malfoy, why are you sighing so much?" Professor Snape asks me, an eyebrow raised.

"Just thinking." I say as I put on the cold expression a Malfoy should wear at all times. He doesn't question any further, and goes back to his argument with Dumbledore on how lemon drops are the most fowl, vile things on the face of the earth.

I still wonder where Potter is. I want to see him. Yes, I Draco Malfoy want to see the Boy-Who-Lived. I can't really admit this to anyone, but I actually like him. Yes, I actually like Potter.  
On that first night of Christmas break when I saw that he had been crying, just made a switch turn on in my brain. He just looked so fragile, and. . .cute.  
Malfoy's don't say things are fragile, they say they are weak. They don't call things cute, they call them repulsive. And to think, I used both to explain how Potter looked.  
This can't be. Malfoy's don't like people. Then why do I like Potter? Geez, I even got him a present for Gods sake! AND MALFOY'S DON'T DO THAT!

I put my chin in my hand, and look over at the doorway, trying to think about other things besides how I'll probably get kicked out of the Malfoy family.  
I get a shock as I see who I was just thinking about. I see Potter rush by the doorway of the Great Hall, wearing his cloak and scarf. Obviously going to walk about the grounds.  
I stand up, ready to leave when I hear Professor Snape speak, "Mr. Malfoy, where are you going?"  
"Back to my room." I say. I start to walk again, more quickly than before.  
It was partly true that I was going to go to my room. Just to grab my cloak and scarf. And then, maybe go for a stroll . . . . .

* * *

And there's chapter 4. Hope you enjoy, chapter 5 to come pretty shortly. 

MsCashew


	5. Harry and his Shock

I hurried down the steps, passing the Great Hall, and out the large wooden doors I went.  
I stopped at the top of the stone steps as the doors close behind me, and take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

There's a light snow falling, I look up at the sky, having the snow fall on my flushed face.  
I start to walk down the stone steps, already feeling better that I'm outside.

I look toward Hagrid's hut. The windows were dark and no smoke came from the chimney.  
"Probably at the feast." I say to myself.  
I continue my walk, not noting where I'm going. Just wandering.

I stop as I realize where I am. That bench, where I go to sort out my thoughts, that bench where I cried for my godfather, Sirius. . .the place where I had told Malfoy that I had lost that man that I cried for. I don't even know how I got here. It's like I just apparated here.  
I sigh, and go to sit on the cold bench.

Sitting there, I start to think about every little thing that's happened. And I mean every little thing.  
Starting with how I met Malfoy before I even came to Hogwarts, his smug personality not winning me over. Second year, of how I thought he might be the heir of Slytherin, third year of how he made fun of me for being scared of Dementors, fourth of how. . .well, he just plain irritated me! fifth and so on, it's been the same.  
But now, since Christmas break, I don't know what's going on. How is it that me and him are now. . .friends? It doesn't make any sense!

I put my head in my hands, frustrated that I'm confused. I mean, why the hell is that me and Malfoy, BLOODY MALFOY, are now friends? I sigh, my head still in my hands.  
Now I hear something. Someone walking towards me, that same crunch of snow under boot that I heard so many nights ago.

"Well, Potter. We meet again." I look up at Malfoy, an eyebrow raised towards me. He sits down on almost the exact same spot he sat when I came to think of Sirius.  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" I ask quietly.  
"Nothing really. I saw you and decided to come to be a bother. So, how can I bother you this snowy evening?" He asks with a smirk.  
"Leave me alone." I say turning to face anything but him.  
"That's a fine hello." He says in a joking way, "Potter, you weren't at the feast." He says abruptedly.  
I look over at him, just to find him staring at me in return.  
"I wasn't hungry." was my reply.  
"You weren't at breakfast or lunch either, I'd think you'd be hungry."  
"Well I wasn't." I say, not being able to think of anything else to say.

"You liar." He says, furrowing his brow.  
"I don't care what you think of me." I say angrily. I then stand, and head for the castle.  
I hear him as he gets up himself, and starts to follow me.  
"Potter, get back here." He orders.  
"I don't think I will." I say, not looking back.  
"I'll give you to the count of three." I stop in my tracks, and swirl around to face him, disbelief on my face at what he said.  
"You have no right to order me, _Malfoy_!" I spit out his name like poison.  
"I just want to talk, that's all."  
I stare at him, more angry than before. Why I was angry? Just because of everything.  
"You want to _talk_?" I say as I step closer to him, "I don't have any reason to talk to you. I don't even know why we're talking now! I don't know why we've become chummy over Christmas break, and I don't know why the hell you gave me a present!" He looks at me with the cold expression that I've known for all Malfoy's to have.  
But then, his cold features turn before my eyes into a face of, defeat? No, I'm not sure what that expression is.  
"I don't know why we've become friends over this time," he starts, "Just something clicked. And, because I had no one else." He says barely, so I hardly catch it. He still goes on, now looking me directly in the eyes, "And when I got you that dragon, I didn't expect anything in return. I, I. . .I think of your company as my present."

Staring, that's all I'm doing at the moment. I'm just not believing what I'm hearing. He actually thinks that my company is his present? In a way that's-NO! NO WAY! Why am I feeling this way? I have to get out of here!

"Malfoy, I, um. Why-, oh, forget it! I don't want to do this right now!" I start to head to the castle once again, just wanting to forget.  
"Potter get back here!" I hear Malfoy yell, but I don't stop, I just keep going.  
Up the stone steps I go, still not looking back.  
"Potter, just stop! I just want to ask you something!" He yells this as I've opened the doors. They stay open from me opening them so hard.  
I stop, glaring at him, waiting so I can be face to face with him.

He reaches me, under the archway of the door.  
"What do you mean you want to ask me something? Let me ask you something." I say hotly.  
"Fine." was his reply.  
"Why are you here? Why aren't you at home? I still want to know that." He looks up briefly as I keep ranting, "I thought you'd want to be at Malfoy Manor so you could get away from mudbloods, as you so like to call them," I stop a second as I feel a twinge of some sort in my stomach. I quickly dismiss it as anger.  
"Potter." Malfoy now says calmly, but I ignore it and keep on going.  
"I know you explained it before, but why have you been so friendly with me? I still don't know what in hell that's about!"  
"Potter." He says calmly again, but with more urgency. I ignore him once again.  
"And I don't know why you were so defensive when I asked you what book you were reading!"  
"Potter!" He says with a great amount of urgency. I still ignore him.  
"Was it a book of dark arts that no one is supposed to know about? Because you seemed pretty defen-"  
**"_HARRY!_"** He yells interrupting me, and shocking me at the same time.  
"What did you just call me?" Well, that's what I would have said. All I got out was, "What did yo-"  
That's all I got out before Malfoy grabbed me by the shoulders, and kissed me full on the lips.

* * *

. . . . . 


	6. Draco's Kiss and Answers

"Potter, just stop! I want to ask you something!" I yell to him as he reaches the large oak doors, and has slammed them open.  
I reach where he is, and look at him, unsure of what to ask. I just wanted him to stop.

"What do you mean you want to ask me something? Let me ask you something." He says, a blaze in his eyes.  
"Fine." I say simply.

He starts to ask furiously as to why I'm here, but I hardly hear it.  
I feel this flutter in my stomach. I've felt this before. I look up, still not really paying attention to what he is saying.  
I'm horrified at what I see.

Mistletoe. No, why was there mistletoe there? Why?

"Potter." I say, trying to be calm. He ignores me, and keeps going on as this flutter in my stomach keeps intensifying. _"This can't be happening right now."_ I think to myself.  
**_Just let it happen, Draco. It will eventually anyway._** I hear myself say. It must be the mistletoe.

"Potter." I say, a bit more urgently this time. Doesn't work. He still ignores me. The fluttering keeps getting stronger, making my face flush a little.  
_"Damn mistletoe!"_ I think angrily.  
**_You love mistletoe, admit it._** My inner voice says once again.

He keeps going on, I say it once again.  
"Potter!" I say, my urgency level going beyond the boiling point. He still ignores me! This-this fluttering is driving me mad! _"It's-it's going to happen! I-I can't stop it! And I don't want to stop it!"_  
**_See, what did I tell you?_** The inner voice once again. If I could, I'd kill the damn thing!

**"_HARRY!_"** I yell, my face flushed from all this fluttering going on!  
I finally got his attention by saying his first name. And he seemed pretty shocked.  
"What did yo-" I'm sure he was about to say more before I grabbed him by the shoulders, and descended my lips onto his.  
_"Damn, damn, DAMN! Muggles don't know what they're messing with when they hang mistletoe for the holidays!"_

He doesn't respond. I'm about to pull away, when I feel him lightly kiss back. I'm a bit stunned.  
If you kiss under the mistletoe, you have to have feelings for the other person. And Potter was kissing me back!

He wriggles his shoulders from my grip. I loosen them, and gently put them around his waist.  
I feel him move his arms up. He seems to not know where to put them. So he just rests them upon my chest as pull him closer.

I don't notice the falling snow outside, I don't notice the chill that blows our way. I only notice Potter's kiss, such gentleness that I haven't felt before.  
We now have to part, for need of air. I stare at him in his shining green eyes. He stares back, taking in a deep breath.

"Malfoy-"

"Harry Potter," I interrupt him, "The Boy-Who-Lived, the Golden Boy of Gryffindor." I still stare, thinking if this is the right thing to do.

"Ask me again why I'm here instead of at home." I say quietly.  
I've been putting up a shield. But I don't want to now. I want Harry to know why I'm not home for the holidays, I want him to know what I was reading. . . I want him to know me.

* * *

He-he _kissed_ me. . .He kissed me. . .DRACO MALFOY KISSED ME? What's going on?  
I, I have to pull away. I should slap him! But, I just can't. This doesn't make sense. . .why does this feel right?  
I start to kiss him back, not knowing why. I'm just absolutely lost in this kiss, lost in why I'm kissing back in the first place. 

We pull apart, any longer and we'd be passed out.  
I come to realize that his arms have snaked around me. When did this occur, when did my arms come to rest on his chest? Was I that lost in his kiss?

He stares into my eyes, as if he's searching for something. I stare back into his gray eyes that were usually always cold. But now, they held warmth.

"Malfoy-" I start to say. But he interrupts.

"Harry Potter. The Boy-Who-Lived, the Golden Boy of Griffyndor." He stops. What is he thinking?

"Ask me again why I'm here instead of at home." He says quietly.  
"What?" I say, a bit in disbelief.  
"You heard me. Ask me why I'm here." He says quietly once again.  
"Okay," I say quietly myself, "But, I want to know something first."  
"Go ahead." He says with a faint smile. He really needs to smile more.  
"Why did you kiss me?"  
"Because, I like you." He pauses for a second, and gives a chuckle, "And I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have a mental shove from a plant."  
"What?"  
"Look above you, Potter." I do as he says, and I see. . . Mistletoe?  
"What does mistletoe have to do with it?"  
"Do you learn nothing in any class? In herbology, Professor Sprout taught us that mistletoe is a magical plant." I guess I don't learn anything. I stare at him, not being able to remember our lesson in mistletoe.  
"Mistletoe has the ability of bringing two people together. But, they have to like each other in order for it to work. So, I kissed you. And," He stops as a smirk spreads on his face, "You kissed back. That must mean you like me."

_"I like Malfoy. . ."_ That was my only thought in my thousand thoughts a second mind. Because. . .it was true.  
"I guess it does." I smile a small smile at him.  
But now, my smile disappears as I start to ask that question.  
"Malfoy, why are you here? Why aren't you at home?"

"Well-" A crash from the Great Hall interrupts Malfoy's answer.  
Oh God, I forgot that dinner was still going on!  
"They probably heard all my ranting." I say, a bit shocked.  
"Please, the professors are too loopy to notice anything." Malfoy answered, "Do you want to go somewhere else, Potter?" He asks me.  
"Let's go outside again." I hear myself say.  
All this time he was still holding on to me. Now he lets go, a bit of reluctance on his face.  
We start to walk outside, the cold blasting at our flushed faces.  
The snow was still falling, more lightly now than before.

"Do you still want to tell me?" I ask as we still walked along.  
"I do." He says quietly, "You know how my father's in Azkaban." He says, not looking at me, "Well, after awhile of him being in there," He stops in his tracks, and now looks at me, a sad look on his pale face, "After awhile, my mother was not feeling well. Not physically, but mentally. She became depressed." He takes a look at the ground now, his expression of sadness becoming deeper, "She knew she was depressed, so she decided to check herself into St. Mungos." So that's who he was sending a package to.  
"I'm sorry, Malfoy." I say, putting a hand on his shoulder.  
"You don't have to be sorry, Potter." He says. He looks at me, and a small smile is on his face, "She's getting help now."

We start to walk once again in silence, and now we come up to the bench that we've sat on so many times during Christmas break.  
"Do you want to sit down?" I ask Malfoy.  
"Sure."  
Now we sit, but not in our usual places. We sit more closely now.  
"Malfoy," I start to say, not sure if I should ask. "What book were you reading that you got so defensive about when I asked about it?"

* * *

. . . . . 


	7. Doubts and a Decision

"That book," I start off, "It's an old book that my mother used to read to me as a child during Christmas." I stop for a second. Why am I telling him all of this? Do I like him that much?  
I look over at him, and sure enough, I think, _"I really do like him that much."_  
"It's "A Christmas Carol". It's one of my favorite books."  
He looks at me with a bit of shock on his face. What was he thinking?  
"That's what you've been so defensive about? I thought maybe you were studying the dark arts or something." a smile appears on his face and he laughs!

"There are other reasons behind it, _Potter_." I say his name with venom in my voice.  
He stops smiling, and says, "Then tell me."  
"Why should I? You might just laugh again." I say as I cross my arms.  
I feel a warm hand on my arm, and look at Potter.  
"Please tell me. I didn't mean to laugh. It was just something I never really expected."  
"Okay. I'll tell you. My mother used to read it to me because, well. . ." I trail off, thinking of how I should explain this.  
"Let me tell you first that my mother isn't what she appears to be. She just seems to be stuck up and all snobby in public because that's how a Malfoy is supposed to act. When she's just with me, she's very kind." I stop as I start to remember things from when I was a child.  
How she would be kind and hold me in her lap by a crackling fire, and times when we were at father's business functions, and just how she would hardly even acknowledge that I was there. It was almost like a double life to her.

"During Christmas, my father was usually out for business. So, mother kind of started a Christmas tradition that was just for us two. She would read as I sat on the floor in front of her, and she wouldn't stop until she finished the book. She kind of thought my father as Scrooge. All bitter and nasty. Not letting anyone in. She thought, even hoped, that maybe something would happen to my father that he would change his life around. But nothing of the sort happened." I finish my story and look over at Potter.  
He looks a bit stunned. Did I tell him too much?

* * *

Wow. . .what Malfoy just told me, it must have taken a lot of nerve. I never expected anything like that to come from a Malfoy. I never expected him to be in possession of a muggle book, hell, I didn't expect his mother to have _read_ that muggle book to him!  
Now that I've heard about his past, I can't really think of him as a Malfoy. Malfoys are pompous, aristocratic, arrogant-, okay, I think I'll stop myself right there. He's not any of those things. He's still an aristocrat, but other than that, I find him to be. . .misunderstood. 

"Malfoy?" I say nervous.  
"Yes?" He says, looking at me with those gray, silverish eyes. I think that might be my new favorite color.  
Am I really going to ask this question?  
"I can't call you Malfoy anymore," I start to say before I actually make up my mind, "After what you told me, you're no longer a Malfoy in my eyes." I stop. He looks at me in bewilderment, I can only imagine what he's thinking I'm about to ask.  
"I can't see you as Malfoy. I can only see you as Draco." I stop again, and take a deep breath, "I guess what I'm asking is, can I call you Draco? Malfoy just doesn't seem right anymore."

He stays silent. What happened? Did I cross a line?  
"No." He says out of the blue. I'm stunned. I didn't think it was too big to call him Draco.  
"Well, if you want it that way. . ." I trail off, disappointed that I can't call him what I think he should be called.  
Now he does something more that I didn't expect once again.  
He gently takes my face into his hand, and now looks at me with a warm smile.  
"You can only call me Draco if I can call you Harry." Then from no where, he places his lips on mine, and gently kisses me. I kiss back in return, never wanting this moment to end.

* * *

I pull away from Harry's gentle kiss, not really wanting to let go. But you do need to breath, it's common sense, really. 

"You didn't need a plant this time." Harry said jokingly. I chuckle at it, and smile at him afterward.  
"You really need to smile more, you know." Harry says out of nowhere. He quickly slaps his hand on his mouth, and is blushing a deep red. _"Looks like he didn't mean to say that."_ I smirk at the thought.

"Don't get red about it. I'll smile a bit more, if that's what you want." He's still red, but now his hand is down and he smiles himself.  
But as quickly as that smile appeared, it disappeared just as fast. He just seems to go into deep thought in one second flat.  
"Harry, what's wrong? You look saggy again." He smiles and shakes his head at my weird word. Doesn't it make sense to say "saggy" when someone is down?  
"It's just, it's just. . ." he trails off, doing that second flat thinking again.  
"How will we act toward each other after break is over?"  
"I suppose how we're acting now." I say with a nod.  
"But what about Gryffindor's and Slytherin's rivalry with one another? How will they all act? I mean, they've come to expect me and you duking it out."

I completely forgot. How will everyone react? I quickly clear it from my mind and say, "Does it matter what everyone thinks? I don't care, neither should you."  
He looks down, a sad expression on his face. He looks at me, with those troubled eyes, and quietly says, "I don't know if I care what they think. I really don't anymore," He stops for a second and takes a look back at the ground, "I'm more worried about what Ron and Hermione will think."  
So that's how it is. I can understand. I worry what my friends, or what I think of as my friends, think of the things I do.

"I understand. I don't want to, but I do." I stop now. Just wanting to be silent for a while. I think Harry thinks the same. He stays silent.  
We just watch the snow fall slowly to the ground. Each flake gliding down, a flash of sparkle coming from them every once in a while from the castle lights.

I sigh, and now reach slowly out to Harry, taking him into my arms. He then lays his head right under my chin, trying to get more close.

"Harry, I want to be with you. Even if it's just for a little while." I stop for a second, not sure if I want to say this, "You make the decision. If you want to stay how we are now, that'd be great. If you want to go back to our old, fighting ways, then let it be."  
He looks up at me, a look of shock on his face.  
"Draco, I don't know if I want to make that choice." He says only above a whisper, "I don't know if it'll be right or wrong, and I don't want to be wrong."  
I smile a sad smile down at him. And now, I give his cheek a gentle kiss.

"Whatever the decision, it will be right."

* * *

. . . . . 


	8. Endings and Beginnings

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Harry! I've missed you so much!" Hermione squealed as she ran to her best friend in the Gryffindor common room, giving him a hug as she got there.

Harry returned the hug limply as he sat in one of the lush armchairs.

"Harry, what's wrong?", Hermione asked as she pulled away from the hug, "Your hug didn't feel right."

He put his chin in his hand, just kind of staring at his friend.

"It's nothing. How was your holiday? How did your families get along? And where's Ron?" He said as he just noticed that his other best friend was not there.

"Our holiday was fantastic! Our families got along pretty good, and Ron's carrying our bags." She said with a smile.

"So, you have him trained so soon?" said Harry with a smirk.

"Don't be so silly, Harry. I don't have him trained," she said with a frown. But then that frown turned into a smirk of her own, "Not yet anyway."

Just as she said that, Ron came through the painting with 5 bags in his arms.

Now he dropped them down on the floor, panting for air.

"Next time, you're carrying your own bags."

"Why didn't you have the house elves bring them up?" Harry asked, smiling a laughing smile at his friend.

"Hermione wouldn't let me. The whole thing about SPEW again." Said Ron as he glared at Hermione.

"Oh, come off it, Ron. You know as well as I do that house elves do enough work as it is. They don't need to be bringing up something that we can carry ourselves."

"Don't you mean that I can bring up?"

Hermione stepped over to Ron, and now gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Yes, I do." She then took 3 of the 5 bags, and went up the steps to the girls dorm.

"She has power over you, doesn't she?" Harry asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh yeah. Definitely." Said Ron as he stared after her.

"Come on, let's put your things away." Harry said as he stood from the chair.

They went to their room, meeting Neville who had come back earlier that day. He gave them a smile, and went back to the "Magical, Plain, and just Strange" plant book that he had gotten from his grandma for Christmas.

Harry plopped down on his bed as Ron started to put his things away.

Ron started to talk about his holiday with Hermione and her family. How Hermione's parents were amazed at the magic of the house, about how Ron's dad asked them questions about dentistry, or "denstry" as Mr. Weasley called it.

But Harry didn't really hear it. He was starring at his picture from Lupin that he had gotten for Christmas.

"Harry, are you listening?" Ron asked, jutting Harry from his thoughts.

"No, not really." He said truthfully. Ron threw a pillow at him, and asked his question that he asked before again, "Where did you get the silver dragon?"

"From a friend." He said casually.

"Uh-huh. And what friend might this be?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.

"A friend that I lost." Said Harry with half a smile. Ron looked at him with a sad smile, wondering about who this friend was that he lost. He now shook his head, and said, "Come on, let's go down to dinner."

They met up with Hermione in the common room, with Neville following the guys, and Lavender Brown following Hermione, who had also gotten back earlier that day.

They went through the painting, and soon started to walk down the steps.

"I forgot to ask, how was your holiday, Harry?" Hermione asked as they slowly walked down the stairs behind their fellow Gryffindors.

"It was alright, I guess. A bit boring though." He said, not looking at them.

"Who was all here?" Hermione asked.

"Not too many people. A couple Gryffindors, a Ravenclaw. . .Draco Malfoy." He said Malfoy's name quickly and softly. But that didn't make it any less worse.

"Malfoy was here for the holiday! Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, "You must have had a tough time with him here."

"It wasn't that bad." Harry said calmly, adjusting his glasses.

"How could it be not that bad?" Ron said as they were finally down by the Great Hall, "Any time with Draco Malfoy is bad."

"Ron has a point, Har-" But she was cut off by a yell that came from the entrance to the dungeons.

"POTTER!" Was the yell. The trio looked over to the dungeon entrance, and found an angry looking Malfoy standing there.

"Just ignore him, Harry. Let's go to the Great Hall."

"Yeah, Harry, ignore the ferret." Ron said after Hermione.

"Didn't you hear me, Potter? Or do you have something in your ears?"

"I heard you perfectly fine, Malfoy. What do you want?" Malfoy started to walk toward them, and said, "You know damn well what I want. And I want it now."

He was now right in front of Harry, just staring at him.

"Fine! I'll give it to you." What Harry did next shocked Hermione, Ron, and a few other people who were listening to the yelling right outside the Great Hall.

He kissed Malfoy. And Malfoy didn't seem at all surprised. He in fact snaked his arms around Harry, and Harry put his arms around Malfoy's neck.

They were still kissing as a confused Hermione started to speak, "Um, Harry? Do you, do you realize what you're, doing?" Ron just stared, mouth agape. He even started to stumble a bit, as if he were going to faint.

"Harry?" Hermione questioned.

Soon, the two pulled apart, smiling at one another.

"Well, that was a fun way to tell your friends, Harry." Draco said as he smiled down at him, both of them still holding on to one another.

"What better way, Draco? Good way to show them we're more than just friends."

Draco laughed, and said to him, "You know, you could've been in Slytherin with the stuff you pull."

"But then, I wouldn't be with you." He blushed as he realized just how sappy that sounded.

"You look good when you blush, you know that? Come on, let's see what the teachers will do." Draco said with a smirk. They let go of each other, and now hooked their arms together.

Harry looked at his two best friends, who still seemed quite confused. He smiled at them, and said, "I'll explain later." with that, the two started to walk into the Great Hall.

Harry didn't know if Draco was the one, he didn't know if they would be together for a long amount of time, or the opposite. But he was happy. He knew that he wasn't the only one who was missing someone, he had someone like him.

And to think, this might not have been if it wasn't for a plant . . .

END

* * *

And there you have it folks. Wasn't it such a happy ending? Makes you want to go Aww, huh? But, I digress. 

Hope it wasn't too confusing at the end, and I hope very much that you enjoyed it greatly.

A **BIG Thank you** all of my lovely readers and reviewers, you're so awesome. >hug 

One question always sticks out in my mind when I do fanfics or fanart that someone asksand that question is: _Why do you always make them gay?_

Well the answer to that is: I just do. I think sometimes that they'd make a grand couple, whether it be SnapexHarry, RonxHarry, DracoxHarry, SnapexRemus, it goes on and on. I just think it's more fun. I like slash, I do.

Hope you all enjoyed my little fic. I'll be updatingothers within the next couple weeks.

And with that, I bid you a fond farewell.

With love,

MsCashew


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